By Christopher Toia
University professor, Charol Shakeshaft, provoked mixed reactions when she released her studies on sexual misconduct among students and faculty. With her latest article scheduled to be released next year, she plans to target the discrimination of women in the school system in hopes of inciting change.
The article “Increasing Gender Equity in Educational Leadership,” featured in The Handbook of Gender Equity, contains Shakeshaft’s studies on gender representation in positions of power.
Shakeshaft said 70 percent of teachers in elementary and secondary education are female, but only 12 percent of superintendents are female, In her article she explores the reasons behind these patterns.
“I was not surprised by any of the results of the research I’ve conducted,” Shakeshaft said. “I’ve just been saddened.”
In her studies, Shakeshaft learned women and people of color were not only under-represented in education administration, but candidates of African descent are still not interviewed and taken seriously on Long Island.
Shakeshaft said when she started her research on the treatment of these groups she was hoping to prove that the status quo should be changed, but efforts to improve the situation are progressing slowly.
While conducting her research, Shakeshaft continues to teach at the University, where she is also the director of the doctoral program in administration and policy studies.
After receiving her B.S. from the University of Nebraska, Shakeshaft went on to receive her master’s from Texas A&M University and obtained her Ph.D. from the same institution. She has been studying academic institutions for over 25 years and teaches courses in decision-making and gender. She also offers a year-long course for school administrators based on data-driven decision making.
Receiving numerous grants throughout her career, she directed a project aimed to promote interest in the area of science among seventh and eighth grade girls, particularly those from populations with minorities and economically depraved households.
Shakeshaft has written several reports regarding women in the field of educational administration, including a study released in 1999 that said the research on educational administration up until that point, had a male bias.
The study entitled, “The Gender Gap in Educational Research,” in the Educational Administration Quarterly, discussed the impact sexism had on women aspiring for and holding positions of leadership in schools.
Additional reports include, “The Struggle to Create a More Gender Inclusive Profession,” which appeared in the Handbook of Research on Educational Administration and “The Reform of the Profession: Essay on Progress,” in the Educational Administration: A Decade of Reform.